My next audiobook read is...

No Time Like the Future by Michael J. Fox

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜

 

DNF - How to Keep House While Drowning AUDIOBOOK

I will not be finishing (DNF) How to Keep House While Drowning by K.C. Davis audiobook. It just wasn't the right book for me.

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜

"33 Best Selling Books of 2023"

So far in 2023, these are the "33 Best Selling Books of 2023":

33. Things We Never Got Over
32. I Will Teach You To Be Rich
31. Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity
30. The Housemaid
29. Happy Place
28. Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea
27. Maybe Someday
26. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
25. The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom
24. Fairy Tale
23. Oh, the Places You'll Go!
22. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
21. It Ends with Us
20. The Very Hungry Caterpillar
19. Verity
18. Diper Överlöde
17. November 9
16. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
15. Icebreaker
14. The Last Thing He Told Me
13. Reminders of Him
12. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
11. Ugly Love
10. The Covenant of Water
9. The Silent Patient
8. Where the Crawdads Sing
7. It Starts with Us
6. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
5. I’m Glad My Mom Died
4. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
3. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
2. Spare
1. Lessons in Chemistry

Wow, there are some interesting books on this list! But, I do not know how I feel about it! Hmm!

First off, I frequently give Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, Oh, the Places You'll Go!, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar as a baby or graduation gifts!! Ha! So obviously, I'm giving GOOD gifts!!

Secondly, many of these books on this list are by Colleen Hoover whom I have never read. I just checked her website and it indicates that her books fall into the "New Adult and Young Adult contemporary romance categories, as well as psychological thriller" which are not my genres. That explains a lot!

Thirdly, I am waiting for a few books on this list from the library that includes The Covenant of Water, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, and Lessons in Chemistry!! 

Finally, I have read I’m Glad My Mom Died and Spare. Both were audiobooks and both were EXCELLENT especially as the author narrated the audiobook in both books.

In total, I am waiting for three books from the library and have read five books from this list! How many of these books have you read? Or are waiting to read?

If you want to know more about this list, you can find out more here: 33 Best Selling Books of 2023!!!

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜

Happy 4th of July!!!

Please allow me to step on my soapbox for a moment. Genealogy is another hobby that I have that is separate from my love of reading. However, I am so very grateful for FREEDOM today - something that most of my ancestors from Europe, specifically, did not have! That is why they came to the "colonies" for their personal FREEDOM which covered a gambit of reasons. 

But, interestingly, many of the ancestors that I have researched so far came to the "colonies" for RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. Many from Germany, France, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom were fleeing religious persecution and seeking religious FREEDOM (Quakers, Mennonites, or Protestants in Roman Catholic countries). 

I celebrate each and every one of these individuals who came in search of a better life, land, futures for their children, and FREEDOM to worship in whatever manner they chose (and not dictated by the State).

I consider myself spiritual rather than religious. But it is amazing to see the marriage, christening, and deaths noted in different documents that were written in Latin or another language (Google Translate helps). It makes me proud that these people made ME!

Thank you to so many who came before me to allow my family and me to have FREEDOM in the United States!! Please celebrate your family that came to the United States for FREEDOM!

My family has been here for a very long time, but if your family came one generation ago or are immigrants, CELEBRATE them and you!!! We are ALL Americans regardless of WHEN we arrived!

Stepping off my soapbox. Now back to your regular programming... 

 

Have a safe 4th of July!! Enjoy the fireworks or books or BOTH - whatever makes you happy today!! 

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜

 

My next audiobook is...

 How to Keep House While Drowning by K.C. Davis

Now, bear in mind that I am CURRENTLY reading FOUR e-books! Two are from the library, one is an ARC that I need to read by August 1st, and one is Kindle First Reads that I own.

It will be interesting to see how I juggle it all. But I really think that I can do it!!

I normally listen to an audiobook before bed, but if I like this book, I may buy it because it sounds like a great gentle book to keep up with housekeeping! Who knows?!?!

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜

So I'm reading MULTIPLE books... WHAT!?!?

It always seems that LIBRARY books come in ALL at once! It happened to me again THIS weekend!! But I love my local, well actually HUGE, library!! Thank you, Los Angeles Public Library!!!

So I will be reading this library book:

The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict

While also reading, this ARC! This book is historically dense and fascinating! Perfect for this history nerd!! This book has until August 1st to finish. So I will alternate until one or both books are done. If this one isn't finished, then I will alternate with another library book. Wild, right! Yes, I can do it!!

Flirting with Danger by Janet Wallach

So how do you handle multiple library books? Do you just power through or alternate? Do you postpone getting them? What about audiobooks in the mix? Inquiring minds want to know. Feel free to post in the comment section!

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜

P.S. The concert last night was a blast!! My daughter and I made AMAZING memories!! The only downside was sitting in the hot sun for hours until blessed shade came over us. Oh, and it was 91% humidity at 10:00 pm in Los Angeles!!! 

My First Reads Book is...

 

The Life She Wanted by Anita Abriel

Okay, so I knew that I had seen this book cover before and it was making me question my memory! I tried to request it from the Los Angeles Public Library, but it was so new that it wasn't available yet. So I just kept it on my Goodreads To-Be Read List!!

So after my last post about Amazon Prime First Reads, I started looking for a great First Reads book. Well, it turns out that The Life She Wanted was a First Reads for June 2023! YES!!!

So the moral of this story is ALWAYS go back and review the books that you have in YOUR personal library. You NEVER know what you might find!!

I'm off to the Fall Out Boy/Bring Me The Horizon concert in a few hours with my daughter today at BMO Stadium in Downtown Los Angeles. The weather is not ideal for an outdoor concert - hot, poor air quality, and 47% humidity (a lot for Los Angeles). BUT, I am going to make memories with my daughter!!

So I will be out late and am going to sleep in. So there may be no reading happening for the next few days! We will see.

Be safe out there, friends!!

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜

FREE with Amazon Prime - July 2023 First Reads

You may NOT know that there is a benefit of one FREE Kindle book monthly with your Amazon Prime membership (First Reads)!! I just got the email about this benefit a few minutes ago - so be sure to check for it! Due to Prime Day in July (I think), there are TWO books available. SCORE! 

Unfortunately, I have so many FREE Kindle books that I may not get through them all EVER! But, I should start reading one Amazon freebie book a month. I will do it this month if the LIBRARY books stop coming in! It is a GOOD problem to have!

So my two Kindle book picks are:

Sing, Wild Bird, Sing by Jacqueline O'Mahony

Broadway Butterfly by Sara Divello

What are your July 2023 First Reads picks??? Please let me know in the comments!!

For further information about July 2023 First Reads, check out this link: https://www.amazon.com/firstreads/ref=kc_apub_afr_d_07_23

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜

June 2023 Reading Wrap-up

Hi, everyone!!

June 2023 was another great month for reading! But my BFF vacation and Father’s Day weekend cut significantly into my reading for the month! That’s the beauty of reading – you can read WHENEVER you have the time. Total flexibility!!

The best book of June 2023: Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See. I have loved and read EVERY. SINGLE. BOOK that she has written. This book is just AMAZING!

I have two front runners for my BOOK OF THE YEAR - The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende and Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See. I read them a month apart so time will tell which one will become my favorite!  

 

STATISTICS:

5 e-books; 2 audiobooks

1 book was an ARC (Advance Reader Copy)

4 books were library books; 2 audiobooks were library books

Audio listening time in June: 28 hours, 28 minutes

Pages read in June:  1765 pages

2 books were 5.0 stars

0 books were 4.5 stars

4 books were 4.0 stars

0 books were 3.5 stars

1 book was 3.0 stars

 

BOOK RATINGS with BOOK COVERS:

5.0 star books (2)

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See

The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (audio)

4.5 star books (0)

 

4.0 star books (4)

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (audio)

The Beginning of Everything by Jackie Fraser

The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore

The Guest House by the Sea by Faith Hogan

 

3.5 star book (0) 

 

3.0 star books (1)

Famous in a Small Town by Viola Shipman

 

If you want to read my full review of any of these books, there are individual review posts for each e-book or audiobook on this blog.

 

I look forward to reading and reviewing more great books for you in July!! Have a Happy National Ice Cream Month! It is possible to eat ice cream and read at the same time!! 🍦

 

Happy reading, 

 

Dorothea 💜

 

P.S. As a reminder about my book ratings, you can find out more HERE. 

 

Audiobooks and ME!

Well, I have listened to a LOT of audiobooks for the first time at the end of 2022 and for the entirety of 2023, so far.

What I have discovered is this:

• Listening to audiobooks while in bed makes me sleepy, DUH!
• Complicated books don't usually work on audiobooks.
• The narrator can make or break a book!
• Memoirs read by the author work best for me as audiobooks.
• The Harry Potter series narrated by Jim Dale is the GOLD standard!

So give audiobooks a try! Don't go by MY experience ONLY. 

BTW, audiobooks are reading per Libby and the LAPL. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!! JUST READ!!!

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜 

DNF - The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) AUDIOBOOK

 

I will not finish (DNF) The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) AUDIOBOOK by Rick Riordan. 

I loved reading this book and series (a LONG time ago), but the audiobook is just not working for me. 

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜